Outside, Inside and In-Between the Classroom: Connected Learning in an International Education Program

This panel defines and addresses the ways connected learning occurs in an internationaleducation setting. The case used is Elon University’s program in Florence incollaboration with Academia Europea di Firenze. The example is transferable to othersettings in which an educational organization abroad partners with a domesticuniversity. This panel will emphasize the following themes regarding connected learning and how it occurs within and between classes; through interactive and observational field assignments that integrate the application and generation of knowledge in the culturo-physical context in Italy, its occurrence in field trips outsideof Florence that create an intended nexus for learning across a cadre of cultural studiesand other courses; strategies that create opportunities for faculty from the domesticschool and the international school to collaborate and integrate courses in both academic and social settings and opportunities to create community between the international faculty and the domestic faculty. Related opportunities for professional development outside of teaching are also addressed.